Their Cloud has a secret
by Fantomo
Summary: Verde needed a vic-I mean volunteer, for the improvements he made to the 10 year bazooka. I wonder who it'll be! Danny-is-Skull If you want to continue this, it is adoptable, just let me know :)


_So that's how it happened,_ was what went through Skull's thoughts as he was engulfed in pink smoke.

 _A few minutes ago-_

The Representative Battle was over and the ex-Arcobaleno were living together again, just like they did in the beginning. According to Verde, them staying close would stabilize their Flames and allow them to grow faster and they would be in their body's within the month. That was 6 months ago, and none of the ex-Arcobaleno showed any signs of leaving. They would leave for jobs and assignments, but they always returned. Currently, all of them, sans Verde who was in his lab, were in the living room just doing their own thing. Reborn was sitting in his chair reading a newspaper, Lal and Colonello were at the coffee table cleaning their guns, Fon was meditating in a patch of light streaming through the window, Viper was in the corner counting their money, and he was on the couch playing DOOMED on his phone. Yuni didn't live with them, having not been affected by the curse like they were. She was living with her Guardians at the Giglio Nero mansion. It was peaceful and rare, so he wasn't surprised when Verde came crashing in carrying what looked like the Bovino's prized Ten Year Bazooka. They all just stared at him, not wanting to be the one to ask. He was standing there, all proud, holding out the gun just waiting for someone to ask. This went on for almost a minute before Lal took pity on the deflating scientist and asked the dreaded question. "What did you do this time," in her usual stern tone. Verde peeked up slightly. If you hadn't spent the last 30 plus years with the mad genius, you wouldn't have been able to notice. "I reverse engineered those stupid cows' bazooka. I will admit to tinkering with it a bit. Now, it should switch someone with their 10 years younger self, instead of their older self," an evil looked passed over him, " now, I just need a test subject." Verde pointed the gun at him. _So that's how it happened,_ was what went through Skull's thoughts as he was engulfed in pink smoke.

As Skull disappeared, the others weren't really expecting much. Maybe a smaller version of their Cloud, just learning to ride his motorcycle, maybe a scared kid wondering where he is. To be honest, they were hoping for the latter to have a little fun and to tease their youngest. Whatever they were hoping for, this was something none of them thought possible. Their Cloud was a civilian, he had a normal life, he was a circus performer until he was picked by the Man in the Iron Mask, or as Skull called him the "Craziest Fruitloop to ever Fruitloop", for his Flames and was dragged into their world. Their Cloud had a normal, safe life. So why, when the smoke cleared, was he bleeding everywhere?! Because there in front of them, was their baby Cloud, laying on the ground in a growing pool of blood and _oh god, there was a gaping hole and they could see his organs andhiseyesohmygodwherewerehiseyes!_ They snapped out of it, and rushed forward. Reborn's hands lit with his Flames, trying to heal his Cloud. Reborn grit his teeth when he had a chance to assess the damage. He may have picked on Skull, may have roughed him up a bit, but he was the youngest. Skull was his baby brother and it was a big brother's job to torment the younger, but it was also his job to protect him. They shared a Guardian bond, even if they didn't have a Sky to call their own, they all shared that bond with each other. Until they found their Sky, they would protect each other. They were more than Family, they were family. So to see what was done to his family, never mind that he hadn't met him yet, made his blood freeze. His Cloud shouldn't even be alive with some of these injuries. What he discovered next made his blood boil and he wanted to Rage. His Cloud was tortured. The hole was actually a vivisection opening, and a look inside showed several missing organs. His liver, spleen, stomach, kidney, even a lung was all missing! It looked like whoever did this was working on taking out Skull's intestines when all this happened. A look at his face to gauge how much pain he was in showed a gruesome picture. Where Skull's eyes should have been, there was nothing but empty sockets, scarring around where the familiar purple orbs were supposed to be. His face was covered in smaller cuts and patches of missing skin, meant to cause pain but not enough for him to bleed from too much. A look further down sealed his tormentors fates. Oh don't get them wrong, the ones who did this were still going to die. Now though, they were going to take their time, they would make their death last for ages, slow and drawn out, agonizing until the very end for what they'd done. Because there in Skull's neck was a scar. A scar that meant they'd slit his throat, not to kill him but to keep him from making any sound. They hadn't tortured him for information, they'd done it for fun! And if the jagged edges on the wounds was any indication, Skull had been awake and fully aware during the entire thing. And to their horror, Reborn stopped trying to find Skull's Flames and Activate his ability to regenerate, stopped trying to heal the wounds he came with. He just sat on his knees next to their Cloud, his fedora pulled low to hide his eyes. "What are you doing?! He's dying kora! Fix him!" Colonello shouted, trying to rouse Reborn from his stupor. Lal was holding him back, because she could see what he refused to see. Viper stood at the back, their hood covering their eyes, they didn't want to see what the blond had missed. Verde was twitching beside them, he had nothing to shield his Cloud from, he saw what the Rain didn't. Fon kneeled on Skull's other side, frozen. He saw what the others did, he just didn't want to think it was true, didn't want to admit that it was too late, didn't want to hear the words that Reborn was going to say. "He's gone," Fon didn't want to hear it," he's missing several important organs and I can't regrow them. He hasn't activated his Flame. There's nothing for me to activate. His heart isn't beating. He's gone." He didn't want to hear it! This was the one who'd he'd loved since the day they met! Fon hadn't confessed, before the curse, he'd thought he'd have time to ease Skull into the idea of being with another man. After the curse, he didn't think any of them wanted to be reminded of what they couldn't have. When the curse was broken, he was taking his time and wanted to lull the Cloud into a sense of safety around him before he struck. He thought he had time dammit! He wanted his love back! Each of the ex-arcobaleno mourned the loss of life, each of them forgetting that this had already happened and that their Cloud was alive. Then the body they surrounded exploded into pink smoke.

He had always wondered how he'd escaped from the GiW lab. One moment he had been laying open on a table, and the next he'd been in Clockwork's tower. The only answer his questions ever received was the ever cryptic " all will be revealed in time." While he had regained all his missing pieces (even his voice! Score!) the scars had also remained. While he recovered, Clockwork sent him to a stunt show for some fun. After the first stunt he was hooked and knew what he was going to do when he healed. Armed with some hair dye and make up ,to hide the scars, Skull De Mort had been born! He was small time at first, though fairly popular do to all the successful performances (he may have cheated a bit, a little flight here, a little intangibility there and he hadn't failed a stunt yet). Until the day he was a little sick and his powers acted up. One jump and an ill time sneeze meant he ended up breaking his neck. No one saw it though. Before anyone could make it to him, a strange purple fire came to life and seemed to fix the damage. He had reassured everyone he was fine, just a little sore, but on the inside he was freaking out! Though, he did save money on hair dye. Whatever that fire was had changed his hair and eye color. And again, all questions asked received the same answer as before," all shall be revealed in time." Man Clockwork was frustrating. Over time, he became more popular, and he had to use his powers less and less until he didn't have to use them at all for his stunts. He still went on midnight flights, he enjoyed the sense of freedom that came with it. Until one day, the Mega Fruitloop came by and offered him a job. "Just meet the others, maybe go on a few mission. If you still wish to leave, no one will stop you." What's the worst that could happen.

When Skull came back he was covered in blood and green slime. For a split moment in time, nobody moved, just stared at each other. Skull shifted, and the others charged. Fon tackled him and held him down while Reborn's hands lit with Flames once more. Skull struggled against the martial artist and hitman , trying to get away while the rest of the former cursed interrogated him, wanting to know what the hell happened. So when Reborn was satisfied that the blood wasn't his and the slime wasn't toxic, he leaned back and looked him in the eyes. "Lackey, what happened?" Everyone went quiet waiting for his answer, though Fon still hadn't let him go. He tried to wiggle out of the other's hold, but the arms around him just tightened. Skull merely let out a long sigh, "I'm not exactly, completely human," and he told them everything. How, when he was fourteen his parents built a portal to a dimension filled with ghosts and when it didn't work, he went in to see what was wrong. He told them how he found the on/off switch inside (he heard a snort at that, probably Verde). He told them how he pressed the button and was about to get out when he heard it start to work. His parents had left it plugged in! The arms around him tightened even more as he described the pain he went through, how his DNA had been torn apart and stitched back together, how his very being altered. He described the fear he felt when he realized that he was a ghost (his parents were ghost hunters after all). He told them of his battles to save his town, someone murmured something about it being his territory. He told them of Sam, Tucker and Jazz who stood beside him. Pariah Dark, Dark Dan, Undergrowth, Nocturne, he told them everything. How he finally figured out what he was. He was the Halfa, half ghost and half alive. He was the one who straddles the line between life and death. The one claimed by Death but clawed his way back to Life and became the rope in their game of tug-of-war. All the way up until he was discovered and taken by the GiW. He told them of the experiments and tests they'd run, how they had cut out his eyes and vocal chords to that he could use his eye beams or wail to get away. "One day, they were taking things out and one second I was lying on there table and the next, I was in Clockwork's tower. Healed as well as I could be. I never figured out how that happened, but I guess I owe you my gratitude Verde. Without your invention, I might have destabilized," Skull took a deep breath and looked straight at Verde with a watery smile, "Thank you". All the emotion he'd felt over the last 40 years and gratitude he'd felt at his freedom went into those two little words. Nothing else was said, the others just sat around him, offering silent comfort and protection as their youngest bared his heart. All the while, Fon never letting go.

Time passed, everything going back to how they were. The others still teased him, and poked fun. They were trying to tone it down, but old habits died hard. The only major change was from Fon. Only a week after the Incident, Fon confessed and asked Skull out on a date. It's been almost a year since then and the two have been going strong ever since. Skull was happy with his life. Each night that he went to sleep in Fon's arms, he knew that he was treasured.


End file.
